September 2008

President Ellerkamp called the meeting to order at 6:30PM at Custom Data.

The group discussed a summer picnic and decided that the event would be held at Jilek’s on Saturday September 13 at 4:30PM. Ryan offered to grill beer-can chicken and the rest of the members would bring pot-luck items.

This month’s contribution from Town & Country Liquors was Bass Pale Ale brewed by the William Bass & Co. of England. The Bass Pale Ale had a very malty aroma and flavor up-front, hops in the middle, and a butterscotch-biscuit finish. It was copper-colored with good foam, but not as hoppy as typical of American-style Pale Ales.

Other beers brought to the meeting included; Summit Scandia Wit, Alaskan Summer Ale, Surly Brewing Co. CynicAle, Moosehead lager, and Hazed and Infused by the Boulder Beer Co.. The Summit Scandia Wit was very citrusy, malty and smooth. The Alaskan Summer Ale was a Kolsch-style ale that was very light and refreshing. The CynicAle was a very complex Belgian-style ale with many spicy and fruity flavors. The Moosehead lager was a slightly sweet slightly skunky lager. The Hazed and Infused had a huge hop aroma and flavor but low hop bitterness. It was a bit hazy as it has wheat malt as part of the grain bill. A very good and unique beer.

Ryan brought up a couple brewing techniques for discussion. The first was the idea of conducting a short boil instead of a typical hour-plus boil when all-grain brewing to shorten-up the brew day. The group discussed possible reduced hop utilization (isomerization) and resulting bitterness, as well as the possibility of limiting the time for volatile compounds such as acetaldehyde, etc. to be purged during the boil. It was decided that hop bitterness could be compensated for with a late malt addition or a greater hop charge and that the yeast could clean-up some of the undesirable flavor compounds during the secondary fermentation and conditioning period.

Ryan also brought up the idea of mashing with a full amount of both mash and sparge water instead of adding sparge water after the mash. Discussion revolved around the fact that the mash would be relatively thin and favor more complete breakdown of carbohydrates because the concentration of sugars during conversion is low in the dilute mash and thus does not inhibit enzyme activity. This could result in a drier beer with less body than desirable.